After fan pressure on Xbox exclusives, new CEO says — “We hear you”

Unless you have somehow missed the bombshell news over the past 24 hours, Phil Spencer has stepped down as CEO of Gaming at Microsoft, and former Xbox President Sarah Bond has resigned.

Studios lead Matt Booty is now stepping into a new Chief Content Officer role, while a new face is taking charge of Xbox, new CEO Asha Sharma. She does not come from a gaming background, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Her experience at Meta and Facebook might help Xbox with generational problems facing the entire industry, where social-first platforms like Roblox and non-gaming tools like TikTok eat into play time hours. But what about the core strategy?

She is already making some compelling statements on X (formerly Twitter). The question is, how compelling are they? Let’s go over exactly what has been said.

What has the new CEO of Xbox actually said?

In a spree of posts on X, the new CEO, Sharma, has been saying a lot of the right things. I know people have their reservations. I still do too. But if first impressions count for anything, it is hard not to be at least a little encouraged, even if Microsoft’s track record gives reason for caution. Taking to X, Sharma has been replying directly to fans, as well as Xbox accounts, including Halo and Gears of War, which welcomed her into the role.

What caught my attention, and clearly others’, was one of her earliest posts. She said the return of Xbox is among her priorities. Later, she replied to another post about the classic blade dashboard, joking about its return and prompting plenty of nostalgia for what many see as better days. More recently, she responded to a fan highlighting the importance of exclusives with a simple “we hear you."

It is more than likely far too early to read too much into this, beyond Sharma acknowledging the brand damage Xbox's lack of exclusives has created. There's little reason to expect a major shake up of Microsoft's broader "Xbox everywhere" strategy right now, in our view.

She also pushed back against a known grifter on X who claimed she does not play games, sharing that her three favourite titles are Halo, Valheim, and GoldenEye. As a Halo fan, that is exciting to hear. The franchise has struggled in recent years. It is easy to be critical right now — and I will admit that I am. But at face value, Sharma appears to be saying the right things. Saying things and doing things are very different, though.

As with most things involving Xbox, time will tell.

How do you feel about Xbox's new leadership?

Are you excited to see what the future of Xbox will look like under Asha Sharma, or are you worried about what's to come? Are you sad to see Phil Spencer go? Do you agree with me that Major Nelson's advice is correct, and important? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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